Texas hitchhiker picked up and then tossed off bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard

Mario Ottesen was picked up at a rest area along Highway 66.

ROWLETT, Texas, April 17 (UPI) -- Mario Ottesen was at a rest area along Highway 66 trying to get a ride across Lake Ray Hubbard on Wednesday night when a van full of young men offered him a ride.

The 23-year-old accepted, but quickly regretted the decision.

“They started heading in that direction and it just got kind of quiet -- I got that awkward feeling,” Ottesen told CBS Dallas-Forth Worth. “Immediately, they just slammed on the brakes and corralled me out.”

They tossed Ottesen over the side of the bridge on Lakeview Parkway and he landed in the mud. Ottesen wasn’t injured, but he couldn’t get himself free and was forced to call 911.

“Stepped in, fell in, crawled out. Stepped in, fell in, crawled out. I did that like 20 different times until I couldn’t even work my way back to the bridge. Eventually I was just stuck,” he said.

Dallas Fire-Rescue eventually had to bring in a hovercraft to rescue Ottesen.